Jabba’s Palace Court Denizens (Jabba’s Palace) - SW [S - P3] - Ultra

Jabba the Hutt’s palace of crime was populated with a variety of individuals who all sought favor with the crime lord, including a B’omarr monk, one of the mysterious monks who used to live in the palace when it was a monastery; Bubo, who once ate a detonation bomb to save the Hutt from an assassination attempt; and Wol Cabasshite, a giant mollusk that clung to the walls of the Hutt’s audience chamber and explored newcomers with its prehensile tongue.

The Star Wars “Saga” line brought collectors more than its fair share of unexpected surprises. And probably most of these unexpected surprises can be found within the Ultra sub-line. Hasbro updated the Deluxe line by putting it into retirement and creating a new line entitled “Ultra”, designed stunning new packaging and included items that fans wanted for a very long time but Hasbro just couldn’t allot into the toy line for one reason or another. On top of new characters available for the very first time in the basic figure line, the Ultra line also brought us some impressive “big” accessories like a Hoth environmental display stand, or a tactical display screen, or an escape pod. And other sets brought us a themed collection of characters that just wouldn’t make great basic figures. That’s what Jabba’s Palace Court Denizens (Jabba’s Palace) brought to the 3.75” basic figure line: an assortment of oddly shaped characters to help collectors fill out any Jabba’s Palace dioramas. Three figures including the Wol Cabasshite (whose proper name is Ghoel), an updated B’omarr Monk (really a BT-16 perimeter droid)and Bubo (whose real name is Buboicullar), the frog-dog who is as cranky as he is awesome make up this trio of Jabba’s Palace court denizens and we think it was one of the wisest items Hasbro could have ever released. For less than $10 you get three characters to pad your displays and they have all been designed with detail and beautiful paint jobs and one even has a discreet “action feature” to make it functional.

The Wol Cabasshite is such a long name for such a small creature. This slug like creature is most famously known for trying to lick C-3PO in Jabba’s palace while hanging upside down on the wall. Its long protruding tongue is curved and pointy (and quite honestly screen inaccurate) and while it would have been sublime if Hasbro created the tongue in a way so that it was removable, that would have made Wol Cabasshite almost perfect. (It’s still done admirably however.) This large mollusk has an incredible likeness and a beautiful sculpt, but it feels more like an accessory than anything else. This may be corny to some, but it also has a suction cup so you can attach this creature to a smooth shiny surface in your display. When you affix it to a surface in which it will stay, the suction cup for all intents and purposes "disappears" and you’re left with an incredible “defying gravity” appearance. We like it very much. Again, if the tongue could have been removable, it would have been almost perfect. During The Power Of The Force “2” line in 1997, Hasbro offered their first “internet” exclusive action figure (which was really just a fancy mail-away figure). The B’omarr Monk, a potentially risky release no matter how you slice it, was the chosen figure for this special release. Hasbro has now updated this same sculpt for Jabba’s Palace Court Denizens (Jabba’s Palace) Ultra set by repainting it. It looks very similar to the original release, but this time the brain “floats” in red/pink liquid instead of the blue liquid it did in 1997. This figure’s sculpt is still excellent and essentially stands the test of time, even if it isn’t super-articulated.

The reason to purchase this set however is for Bubo. We are basically flabbergasted by its release and how it never ceases to amaze us. The sculpt is absolutely incredible. Hasbro designed an awesome functioning hinge-jointed jaw, so you can recreate this animal barking at those that bump into him while walking into Jabba’s court, or you can pretend to make him devour his meal…. or even a victim. In addition to the hinge-jointed mouth, he also comes with two swivel shoulders which is enough articulation to give the collector some flexibility in posing him. Hasbro spent the time to not only add detail to Bubo’s dorsal side, but also a ton of detail has been added to his ventral side as well. All stops were pulled out to give collectors a nearly perfect action figure of this character right from the start. On top of the superb sculpt, Bubo has an even better paint job. You’ll need time to inspect how much effort went into this action figure to see why he may be one of Hasbro’s finest moments in the basic figure line. Jabba’s Palace Court Denizens (Jabba’s Palace) is a really nice enhancement to the basic figure line and it complements the Jabba The Hutt (Jabba’s Palace)Ultra figure quite nicely. While we wish that Jabba would have come with a dais, all of these extra parts help to make that omission a little less painful, even if just slightly. A true testament that they care what collectors want, Hasbro seems on fire with the Ultra line. Picking the most exciting scenes from across the Star Wars saga, Ultra may be the premiere line in Hasbro’s long history with the Star Wars brand.